Which PN candidates have made it into Parliament via casual elections?

Apr 12 2022

With the Nationalist Party’s casual elections going on, new faces Rebekah Cilia, Stanley Zammit, Graham Bencini, former Labour mayor Charles Azzopardi and Sliema mayor Graziella Attard Previ have been elected.

Cilia won Robert Arrigo’s vacated seventh districted seat while Zammit won Grech’s vacated seat in the fifth. Graham Bencini won Mark Anthony Sammut’s vacated seat in the tenth district, with Charles Azzopardi winning Ryan Callus’ seventh district seat.

Interestingly, Graziella Attard Previ’s victory of Joe Giglio’s vacated ninth district seat marked the end of Jason Azzopardi’s tenure in Parliament. Meanwhile, Karol Aquilina and Carm Mifsud Bonnici have also been revealed to be re-elected to parliament.

Vacated seats are occupied through ballot reviews, with second preference votes distributed to unelected candidates and the frontrunners of which process occupy the vacated seats by already-elected MPs.

The newly-elected MPs join the likes of the Nationalist Party faces Alex Borg, Jerome Caruana Cilia, Darren Carabott and Mark Anthony Sammut, all of which put on a considerable showing during the 2022 elections, with Borg himself even outpacing PN veteran Chris Said.

#MaltaDaily

Jason Azzopardi fails election as Karol Aquilina wins seat

Apr 12 2022

As frontbencher Karol Aquilina managed to win a seat in parliament during the Nationalist Party’s casual election, Jason Azzopardi failed to make it into parliament.

After the two politicians failed to make it into parliament through the general election, concerns were raised by the public after discovering that they were both contesting the casual election.

The zeitgeist of many in Malta was that since the two politicians were clearly ‘unwanted’ as could be seen in the general election, the two should not have contested the casual election.

It seems as though however that Aquilina will be returning to parliament, but Jason will not. This correlates with the call to not re-elect the ‘Blue Heroes’. This refers to a faction of the PN which wanted Adrian Delia to step down as Opposition leader, despite him being elected during the general election.

#MaltaDaily

Eve Borg Bonello set to become youngest MP in Malta and (probably) the world

Eve Borg Bonello becomes Malta's youngest MP through Gender Quota Mechanism

Apr 12 2022

Indications have shown that the Nationalist Party’s Eve Borg Bonello will become the youngest Member of Parliament in Malta and probably the rest of the world.

The 18-year-old became the youngest candidate in Malta’s political history, contesting on ninth and tenth district in the 2022 general election, after occupying the post of President within the PN’s youth wing Team Start.

Malta continues to make European benchmarks in this regard after earlier this year, Roberta Metsola become the youngest-ever EU Parliament President on January 18th.

With Rebekah Cilia getting into parliament on the 7th district via casual election Borg Bonello is set to make it into parliament.

#MaltaDaily

Anglu Farrugia keen to retain his Speaker role

Apr 12 2022

Anglu Farrugia said he is keen to carry on as parliament’s speaker as a new parliamentary term is set to begin. As speculation continues to germinate, Labour MP Michael Farrugia was being touted as one potential candidate.

Contacted by Times of Malta about his future role, Anglu Farrugia confirmed that he is interested in continuing his role. The country’s first full-time speaker pointed towards reforms giving greater autonomy to parliament during his nine-year tenure.

The choice on who gets the Speaker seat falls on Prime Minister Robert Abela. Farrugia was appointed to the position back in 2013 months after his dramatic resignation as Labour’s deputy leader prior to the election.

Before the standard commissioner’s office was set up, Farrugia had long lamented how he was powerless to take any action to investigate the mandatory financial declarations filed by all MPs. This also prompted Opposition leader Bernard Grech to accuse Farrugia of using his rulings and casting vote to hinder or render unless the standard commissioner’s and the committee’s work.

#MaltaDaily